Love of Lives Past
by Katana Sundancer
Summary: Sam is suddenly having strange dreams - dreams of a life lived long ago... of a battle for truth and freedom from false gods... and of a love that will span the ages... S/J Takes place early Season 7. Pete will never exist.
1. Prologue

_A large room, a hall, fills my vision. There is gold and precious gems everywhere._

_Servants. No, slaves. They exist to do our bidding. Food, drinks, delivered at a gesture._

_Worshippers, bowing down before our might. Our divinity. _Their_ divinity._

_They bow down before the two thrones. The woman glances down at me, where I sit at my father's feet. I stare back, my unusual gaze meeting hers. She turns away, her magenta hair gliding over her shoulders, even as my father, her husband, rests a hand on my head._

_My mother. She is jealous of the favour my father shows me, and the awe and reverence bestowed on me by the people who are meant to worship her._

_The worshippers present a gift, a finely crafted shield, embossed with a stylized symbol of the sun, what my father represents. His dark eyes coolly inspect the offering, and I freeze._

_Finally, he nods, and a Jaffa takes the shield, even as I take a breath. There will be no sacrifices today, for which I am grateful. Too many die at their whim._

_The common people, the peasants, the slaves, the Jaffa; they call them Ra, the god of the sun, and Hathor, his queen, the mother of all._

_I call them my parents._

_As the beloved daughter of the Sun, I am honoured by the people as goddess of the stars, the small suns that grace the night sky and offer hope until the true Sun returns. But I am no deity._

_Neither are they._

_I know the truth, that so many do not, that keeps so many enslaved. They are parasites, and they care not for our kind._

_I am not one of them. Not a Goa'uld, as they call themselves. I am born of the hosts, of the poor souls imprisoned in their own bodies. Yet Ra sees me as his daughter nonetheless, and more; as a way to make the people worship him more, despite the fact that my very existence is forbidden, and because I hold all the knowledge of these creatures, the others would have no choice but to kill me, and preserve themselves._

_If they knew of me, of my birth._

_I was born, in the religious centre of a culture that is dark of skin, eyes and hair, as pale as first sunrise, with eyes as blue as the sky at noon, and hair as soft as the whitest sand of an oasis. Had I been born to any other couple, I would have been killed within a heartbeat. Instead, I was born to the gods. In a society such as this, a special significance was placed on me._

_Hathor sees me as a rival._

_I do not garner the attention of the people, but it falls upon me anyway. Just by virtue of my birth am I worshipped and honoured. And more, adored._

_Hathor has become fearful to our people. They do not worship her from choice or because it brings them joy or inner peace. Hathor rules by fear._

_And Hathor is ruled by fear. She fears me, though I have never moved against her. She fears the support I have from my father, and the love I have from my people. And she fears the lack of control._

_They tried to take me once before, when I first went through the rites of womanhood. Tried to make me one of their own, a Goa'uld. The creature forced its way into the back of my neck._

_I forced it back out, killing it in the process._

_It was not a conscious decision, more an instinctive reaction. Hathor has feared me since. I am the only Tau'ri to resist infestation, doubtless because of my parentage._

_My father dismissed her concerns. Hathor has become too ambitious for his comfort. Ra will allow no harm to come to me. The people bless me and curse her, and for a god who wishes to keep a spiritual leash upon his people, I am of far more use than the one the people most fear._

_My father believes me to be no threat to his dominance, and I give him no reason to think otherwise. Until my mother has been neutralized, I can make no move._

_I am the daughter of the gods, honoured as goddess of the stars._

_I am the Ik'larel. _

_When the time comes, I will free my people._

*****

Samantha Carter sat upright in bed, breathing heavily. Her eyes flicked frantically around the room, panicking for a moment before her brain recognized where she was; her quarters at the SGC. Sparse and basic, the simple surroundings calmed her.

Resting her head on her hands, she worked to get her breath back. That had been the strangest dream – no, not dream. It felt too… _real_, to be a figment of her imagination.

'It had to be a dream,' she argued to herself. What else could it be? She curled up into a tight ball, praying for sleep to take away the memory of that … _dream_.

*****


	2. Chapter 1 Exploration

Colonel Jack O'Neill scanned the area around the Stargate on P4X-124, P-90 at the ready, aware of Major Samantha Carter doing the same to his left, Teal'c and Doctor Daniel Jackson behind them. "All clear, sir," Sam assured him, her alert stance relaxing slightly.

"Except for yet more trees. Hey, is that the yellow brick road?" he added brightly.

Sam snorted. "More like the brown dirt path, but in essense, sir, yes." Jack looked over at her for a moment. That last comment had been almost snide - unusual for his 2IC. But she seemed fine, and he chalked it up to spending too much time around him over the years.

"It would appear that the road is still in use, however infrequently," Teal'c added calmly.

Daniel came to stand with his team mates. "Well, the UAV indicated a settlement in that direction. Maybe some of the native people still travel here, for ceremonies or something. I mean, scans showed no Goa'uld technology, right?"

Sam nodded. "As far as we could determine, yes. But it is a big planet, at least twice the size of Earth."

"Okay, let's move out," Jack ordered, gesturing for Teal'c to take point. Sam and Daniel followed side-by-side, the archaeologist already chattering, and Jack brought up the rear.

A few hours on, they came to the edge of the trees that surrounded the Stargate. In a slight depression below them was a small village - and just a few feet away was a swarthy man, staring at them warily, but not overly frightened. He edged closer, curiousity plain in his expression. "Machara Chappa'ai?" he asked cautiously.

"Daniel, you're on," Jack prompted.

The linguist refrained from rolling his eyes and stepped forward to greet the local man. After a moment of conversation, Daniel turned back to SG-1. "Ah, it's a derivation of Ancient Egyptian, but it's just a little different, some words are clearly Latin."

"Interesting combo," Jack drawled. "Did ya answer the guy?"

"Yes, ah, his name is Charal." Daniel switched back to Egyptian and began what was clearly introductions, gesturing to himself and his team mates as he spoke. "Daniel Jackson. Colonel O'Neill."

"Hi," Jack said with a small wave. Charal nodded briefly in response.

"Teal'c." The large Jaffa bowed slightly from the waist, also receiving a nod.

"Major Carter." Just as Daniel named her, Sam pulled her hat off and smiled in greeting.

The man's dark eyes widened as he saw her face clearly for the first time. He dropped to his knees and touched his forehead to the ground three times before her, talking very rapidly. On the final bow, his head stayed down in supplication.

Sam looked exceptionally startled and discomforted. Jack stared at Daniel. "Well?"

Daniel was just as surprised as the rest of them. "He asks forgiveness for his ignorance of the Lady, and hopes you were not offended by his manner. He also rejoices that you have chosen to honour him with the vision of your beauty." Jack grinned at that.

"I... my what?" the major stuttered. "Look, tell him to get up, Daniel, please."

Daniel spoke quickly to the man, but he stubbornly remained prone. "Charal says no mere man is permitted to look upon the face of ... She Who Is Light."

Jack's grin grew. "No mere man, huh? What does that make us?" Sam glared at him, cheeks flushed.

"Ah, well. Teal'c he calls the 'Midnight Guardian', apparantly I'm her 'Chosen Companion' and you," Daniel paused, a smirk appearing, "you're the 'Light's Consort'."

"What!" The colonel's grin had suddenly disappeared, and Sam had that 'deer in the headlights' look on her face. "Consort? As in..." He waved his hand up and down.

"As in 'consorting', Jack," Daniel said, a too-innocent smile now in place. "As in -"

"Well, tell him that he's wrong," Sam interrupted, much to Jack's relief. "Tell him that I'm nothing special, that we're just humans, same as he is."

Daniel glanced at Jack, who nodded, and he turned back to the man. But Charal refused to raise his head. "Ah, he says that no mortal could possibly be so lovely, that you must be the Lady of Light, even if you are unaware of it. He says, that if you will turn your skylit gaze for but a moment, he will go to the village and bring a woman who will lead us to your temple," Daniel said, clearly translating word for word.

"_My_ temple?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Ah, well, I'm assuming it's actually this 'Lady' he's speaking of, but we won't find out unless we go," Daniel explained.

Jack sighed. "Danny, do you think we're in any danger here?"

"No, I think the people are too in awe of Sam to do us any harm. I mean, they obviously revere this Lady. And it doesn't sound like they're talking about a Goa'uld."

"Alright. Carter, can you turn around for a moment? Your 'skylit' gaze is so unnerving." Sam glared at him for a moment before complying. Charal was up and trotting away within moments. "What does that mean, anyway?" he grumbled.

"What, skylit?" Daniel asked. "I guess it's just that Sam's got blue eyes. I mean, these people may not have seen blue eyes before."

"Apparantly this 'Lady' had them," Jack said. "Besides, you got blue eyes and he didn't seem to care."

"Well, I'm not their Lady, am I? You can turn around, Sam, Charal's reached the village."

The major swung back to face them. "Sir, I'm not comfortable with this."

Jack frowned. Sam looked rather shaken. "Can't stand the royal treatment?"

"In all honesty, I'd probably prefer the silent treatment, sir."

"Well, we'll try and keep their contact with you to a minimum, at least until Daniel has a chance to work his magic and convince them you're almost as human as the rest of us."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Sam's mouth, though she tried to fight it. "Almost, sir?"

"You heard me, Carter. Hopefully they'll leave us alone to check out this temple of yours. If it still bothers you, and no fancy doo-hickeys catch your attention, we can probably swap out you, me and Teal'c for a bunch of geeks." He raised his eyebrows at her. "Sound like a plan?"

Sam smiled gratefully at him. "Sounds great, sir."

"Good, that's the plan then." Feeling happy, he grinned as a woman from the village approached. "Ah, here's our new babysitter."

*****


End file.
